Purify Food and Drink?

[mearrin69]

My reading of this spell's description is that it could be used to turn a poison into a harmless substance. Would that apply to a drug like pesh? If not, why? A player wants to use this spell to hide the fact that her character's not taking a drug she's expected to take and I'm not sure how to handle it. Thanks!
M

[Oladon]

mearrin69 wrote:

My reading of this spell's description is that it could be used to turn a poison into a harmless substance. Would that apply to a drug like pesh? If not, why? A player wants to use this spell to hide the fact that her character's not taking a drug she's expected to take and I'm not sure how to handle it. Thanks!

I don't think so. Pesh (and other drugs) aren't "contaminated food or drink". At the same time, if the character were to mix the drug with some food (i.e. "contaminate" the food), you could rule that it would work... I think the definition of "otherwise contaminated" here leaves a lot up to the GM.

All of the above, of course, assuming that the drug she's supposed to be taking isn't a magic potion.

[mearrin69]

Oladon wrote:

I don't think so. Pesh (and other drugs) aren't "contaminated food or drink". At the same time, if the character were to mix the drug with some food (i.e. "contaminate" the food), you could rule that it would work... I think the definition of "otherwise contaminated" here leaves a lot up to the GM.

All of the above, of course, assuming that the drug she's supposed to be taking isn't a magic potion.

Thanks for the reply.

It's rum mixed with water, grog, the daily rum ration mentioned in Skull and Shackles. So, to your point, I guess it technically is contaminated water. As written, it's a drug that deals 1d3 con damage and yields (I think) a 1d4 cha bonus while under its effects and has a DC 5 save to avoid addiction. There's been some discussion about how a normal person would quickly die if forced to drink it nightly, as the crew of the Wormwood are expected to. They could just tip it away, with a punishment if they're caught doing so, but the cleric figured the spell might be a better way if it works that way.

I asked the question in a sneaky way to avoid coloring it with specifics about the AP.
M

[tbrminsanity]

Related question:
Would Purify Food and Drink also eliminate the effects of alcohol in a drink (removing the poison in the drink)?
I can see a common practice in groups to sit down and have the Cleric "bless" the food and drink the adventurers are consuming that night, to remove any attempts to poison/drug them. The side effect is that everything they consume would also be "dry". From a role-playing point of view, I guess the GM could describe their food and drink as "while satisfying your physical need for sustenance, his food and drink has been stripped of its uniqueness that sustains the soul."

[Lord Fyre]

tbrminsanity wrote:

Would Purify Food and Drink also eliminate the effects of alcohol in a drink (removing the poison in the drink)?

I too would seek the answer to this question. :)

Or ... counterwise, could it improve the quality of the drink?